Words often fail to fully describe differences in felt recoil, but rest assured, the differences between the .454 Casull and .475 Linebaugh can be felt.

...and ya still haven't touched of a .500 Linebaugh Long!

I dug up a link to some John Taffin articles about shooting these hand cannons that I thought you might find of interest. Just for grins, here is a great quote from John that gives you his perspective on felt recoil.

"Normally I need a minimum of 200 to 300 rounds of brass to Taffin Test any cartridge. When I shot the .475 Linebaugh Long or Maximum I was thankful that I had less than forty rounds and would not ever be shooting more than this at any one session. Then came the .500 Linebaugh Long and I would have been satisfied with a dozen rounds!"

...Taffin continues:

"The recoil with the .500 Linebaugh Long in full house loadings is serious to say the least. A shooting glove is essential and I use a Chimere with the lightly padded palm and then tape the knuckle of the middle finger on my shooting hand with several layers of adhesive tape. I also tape my trigger to avoid being cut by the bottom of the trigger. Even so, it takes a tremendous amount of concentration and expended strength to fire thirty to forty rounds of this biggest of all revolver cartridges that will still fit in a portable package. Not only is this the case but I also found myself taking such a beating that it was not unusual to become physically ill from shooting the big .500. My normal procedure was to shoot the test rounds early in the morning and in every case I found myself needing to lie down and recoup by afternoon. I cannot emphasize enough that this is a serious cartridge and not a revolver to be purchased for braggin' rights."

To be fair, Desert Dog is quoting Taffin on the Linebaugh Long (aka: Maximum) cartridges, not the standard length Linebaugh.

I have fired Ruger Redhawks converted by Hamilton Bowen to .475 Linebaugh and .500 Linebaugh. Both revolvers were fitted with full underlug barrels, 6" and 4" respectively. The .500 with full-power Buffalo Bore ammo lifted as much in recoil as the Ruger Super Redhawk in .454 Casull with Winchester ammo. However, the .500 did not have the sudden and painful torque of the .454 Casull. The full-power .475 loads were even easier to shoot than the .500, but this was likely due to the individual gun weights.

Yes, D.E. you are correct in pointing this out. I was trying to interject a bit of humor, not obfuscate the facts (not that you infer that). Thank you for adding your clarification. I thought Mr. Taffin's remarks were pretty funny. Anyway, if one can handle full power .454 Casull loads, it really isn't that drastic a transiton to the .475 Linebaugh. However, we shouldn't trivialize the .454 Casull's recoil force. Quoting here from author 'Paco' Kelly:

"Shooting it is a real experience for those who are not used to heavy-recoiling revolvers. I have seen more than one person get hit in head (hard enough to raise a lump) when firing full power .454 Casull loads."

Paco demostrating Freedom Arm .454 Casull under full recoil.

It should be noted here, that the platforms used to lauch those same rounds, do cause greatly different perceptions of felt recoil. Single Action revolvers (like Mr. Taffin uesd in his tests) tend to roll up in the hand (roughly 3:00 to 11:00) when recoiling hard. Whereas with the far bigger and heavier Ruger Redhawk DA frame (you cited), with their full underlug barrels, and considerably different stock configurations, a shooter would not experience and displace the effects of the recoil in quite the same manner. You also neglected to mention if the Bowen conversion you shot had one Hamilton's (normally included on .475 & .500s) muzzle breaks. That would change the outcome of your comparison a fair amount. I like to think of the SA revolver as taking more of an Aikido approach to directing energy, and the DA style revolver as trying to fight the energy. YMMV.

You also neglected to mention if the Bowen conversion you shot had one Hamilton's (normally included on .475 & .500s) muzzle breaks. That would change the outcome of your comparison a fair amount.

The Bowen Redhawks that I shot did not have muzzle brakes or porting. They were equipped with Pachmayr Presentation stocks, which I find to be too large for my hand in general, but are even worse on the Redhawk. However, these conversions were still more comfortable to shoot than the .454 Casull Super Redhawk.

The torque of the .454 Casull Super Redhawk with factory stocks is distinctly unpleasant. It rotates sideways through the web of my hand, and my trigger finger was routinely struck by the frame above the trigger.

thanks for the info guys. ive definately got to have one. got 2 other projects on the works right now that ive got to get finished first though. i know one of the 'smiths at magnum research and i think i'll have him build me a custom 475 on the bfr frame, have him make it nice and tight, reshape the top of the backstrap a bit, and im definately considering a muzzle brake.

The picture of the Super Redhawk appears to be a .44. The .454 does not have a fluted cylinder.

D.E.Watters,

I have never noticed the torque which you speak of but do not discount it. Could it be a byproduct of the specific ammo you use. I normally stick to homegrown 300 grain Sierra and Speer loads and have not noticed it. I do notice the unpleasant thump of the stub frame bottoming out in the stock rubber grips.

Good eye nemisis! I have now corrected that caption. When trying to put that post together, I had a hard time finding the right image. Ruger's web site SRH .454 photo is not working. Anyway, the fluted cylinder would be a dead give away, as would the lack of the "Target Gray" SS finish, that is exclusive to SRHs chambered for the .454 Casull and .480 Ruger. For those not familiar with the new .480 Ruger, it is a round that fills the middle ground of power, between the less powerful .44 Magnum, and the more powerful .454 Casull. Here are the correct photos:

I have never noticed the torque which you speak of but do not discount it. Could it be a byproduct of the specific ammo you use. I normally stick to homegrown 300 grain Sierra and Speer loads and have not noticed it. I do notice the unpleasant thump of the stub frame bottoming out in the stock rubber grips.

It was a while back, but I believe the loads were the Winchester 260gr Partition Gold @ 1,800fps.